Source
by Nixa Jane
Summary: A.U. 452 is sent on a mission—befriending Logan Cale, and using him to learn the identity of Eyes Only. ML.
1. The SetUp

Author's Note: This is an A.U. A kind of 'what if the second set of X-5's had escaped instead of the others' thing. Alec instead of Ben, Sam instead of Max, ect. Basically, this is just my Max and Logan version of The Berrisford Agenda. It is a WIP, and depending on my muses, I don't know how often I'll have updates.

"This is the target," they tell her, and slide a picture across the grey table. "We believe he has information on the identity of Eyes Only."

She glances at the picture once, only briefly, but it's enough to memorize the smiling face. He's handsome, well dressed, and all things considered, she could have done worse for an assignment. Tinga's last one had been associating with drug dealers that had somehow gotten their hands on Manticore made narcotics, and the experience had been less than pleasant for her. Max, on the other hand, seems to have caught an easy one and she plans to take full advantage.

She doesn't even have to kill anyone. At least, not yet.

"We want you to get close to him," they say. They hand her a file and she takes it casually, her eyes rolling up to watch them slyly.

"Consider me there," she says.

xxxxx

He's not really that hard to find, and it's easy enough to get his attention once she does. He's at the back of a little place called 'Crash', having a hushed conversation with a pretty blonde. One of Eyes Only's other contacts, maybe, or maybe a girlfriend. She's hoping for the former, because the latter will make her job a little harder. She hovers near the edge of the wall, listening in. She catches the girl's name, Asha, or something, then she smiles and pulls up a chair, sitting herself between them.

"You Logan Cale?" she asks, and he leans back in his chair, smiling back at her and looking vaguely amused. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Asha tense.

"Who's asking?" Asha snaps.

Max turns to her for a brief moment, and blinks. "I am," she says. "I thought that was rather obvious."

Logan laughs lightly. "Yes, I'm Logan Cale," he says, "but then, you already know that, don't you?" He watches her over the rim of his glasses like he knows far more than he should, and she realizes she's made a mistake already. She shouldn't underestimate people simply because they weren't genetically engineered, but living her life at Manticore, it was easy enough to forget that.

Even Lydecker, for example, was simply run of the mill. She could have killed him when she was only a child, and if she hadn't been so scared she probably would have.

"I wouldn't have asked if I knew," she says, sounding more defensive than she had intended. He hasn't done anything to get her this off balance—but she was losing her footing all the same.

"We should go," Asha says, looking pointedly at Logan.

"I think I'll stay awhile," he says, turning back to give Asha his full attention. "I'll see you tomorrow, though, okay?"

The dismissal is obvious, as is Asha's reluctance to leave. She still gets to her feet though, shooting Max a cold look before she starts for the door.

"Girlfriend?" Max asks slyly, slouching a little in her chair. She's been taught perfect posture, but it's fun not to use it.

"Friend, actually," Logan corrects, that amused lilt to his voice still coming through. "And you would be?"

"Max," she says, and grins up him.

"Nice to meet you, Max," he says, but he sounds distracted, and his eyes have followed Asha out the door.

Inexplicably irritated at not having his full attention, she crosses her arms and decides to get down to business. "I'm kind of in a little bit of a jam," she says. "I was told you were a stand-up kind of guy; that maybe you could help." The sarcasm bleeds into her voice almost seamlessly and he doesn't miss it, his lips twitching upwards a bit at her attitude.

They taught sarcasm in common language usage class back at Manticore. Max passed it with flying colors and it shows.

"You could at least ask nicely," he says, finally turning back to face her.

"Look, can we go somewhere else?" Max snaps. "If it'll help, I'll ask nicely once we're there."

He eyes her speculatively, and bites his lip a moment before shaking his head. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

"Tell me you're not scared of some girl," Max says sweetly.

He laughs again, completely unaffected. Usually males were a lot easier to rile up than this. "Oh, I have a feeling it would be stupid to underestimate you."

She was having the same feeling about him, but she didn't let it show let alone say it out loud. "Our association could potentially be mutually beneficial, Mister Cale," she says. "You would be stupid not to hear me out."

"So talk," he says. "No one here cares enough to eavesdrop on us."

Max purses her lips but can hardly convincingly argue that, considering half of the patrons were too drunk even to stand, and the rest were far too wrapped up in themselves. She isn't surprised he meets informants here—there's a certain finesse in this method of hiding right in plain sight. "I heard you were looking to take down the Steelheads," she says cautiously, quietly.

Logan doesn't acknowledge the statement one way or the other. He just takes another sip of his drink and continues watching her.

"I got myself in a little trouble with them, see," Max says, "so I wouldn't exactly be opposed to selling them out if you could promise to take them down."

"I don't know where you're getting your information, Max," Logan says levelly, but with a certain charm she wasn't entirely sure she was immune to, "but I'm a reporter. I don't 'take people down.' Maybe you should go see the police. I can steer you in the direction of a cop that might actually help."

Max shoots him a wolfish smile. "Did I mention I'm also having a little trouble with the cops?"

He returns the smile with a lop-sided one of his own, and shakes his head with mild exasperation. "No," he says, "but somehow I'm not surprised."

"If you don't help me they'll kill me," Max says, increasing the stakes. "Hell, they'll probably kill me even if you do try to help, but I like my chances better if I have someone trying to get them off the streets."

Logan pulls out his wallet, and drops a few bills on the table. Max knows he's getting ready to leave. She tries another tactic.

"I know you work for Eyes Only," she says, leaning forward, putting some urgency into her tone. She lets the smart-ass part of her cover slip away so he'll think it's an act, lets him see fear. She feels a strange kind of prickling feeling when he meets her eyes again, because he doesn't seem to be buying it, and she's never had trouble fooling anyone before.

"Eyes Only?" he says, his eyes widening in mock-innocence. "Isn't he that guy that comes on the TV?" Max feels her eyes narrow, because he isn't even bothering to try and fool her. "Guy's a nut job, if you ask me—always interrupting my favorite programs."

"How long are we going to play this game?" she snaps. "I know you want the Steelheads, I can give them to you."

"If, for some odd reason I can't begin to speculate on," Logan says, "I was interested in Steelheads, I already know where they can be found." He grins at her a little. "But thanks anyway."

Max tries not to let her surprise show. This is the first time Lydecker's information has been wrong, unless Logan somehow managed to get their location since this morning. That got her wondering about Asha again and exactly what kind of friend she was. "Yeah, well, I can give you more than Steelheads," she says. "If you haven't caught on here yet, I'm trying to get a job."

There was that lop-sided grin again. "I noticed," he says. "I'm just wondering why. What—did you wake up this morning and decide to save the world?"

"More like I woke up this morning and heard you pay your informants well," Max says slyly. "I'm sure we could work something out."

"I'm sure you do have lots of information that would be extremely valuable," Logan allows. "From my perspective as a journalist, of course."

Max smiles a little at that, but if he wants to keep up the pretense she'll indulge him for now. "Of course," she says.

"In fact, I'm working on a little piece at the moment. Maybe you could help me with it."

He's watching her intensely again, and Max gets the sudden feeling that she's being led into a trap. She pushes the feeling away, secure in the fact she could so kick his ass. "Really?" she says.

"Yes," he says, giving a brief nod. "It's about a government run program, actually."

Max's fingers clench around her chair. He couldn't know, she tells herself, and then says, "Really?" again, and hopes she doesn't sound as off balance as she feels.

"Manticore, they call it," he says with a small smile. "Heard of it?"

"Can't say I have," she snaps. "About the Steelheads—maybe I could help you take them down…"

"Manticore is into some pretty high tech stuff," Logan continues, ignoring here. "Genetic engineering and such."

"Fascinating," Max snaps. "Do you have a point?"

"Actually, I have a question," Logan says calmly. "Tell me, Max, do you have a bar code on the back of your neck?"

It catches her completely off guard, but outwardly, she stays completely still. She considers denying it, but only for a moment—he already knows or he wouldn't have confronted her. "Yes," she says coolly, then echoes his statement from earlier, "but then you already know that, don't you?"

Logan grins; this time, not just half-way. "Would I have asked if I'd known?"

"You've known all along," Max says, considering retreat, and completely unnerved—maybe for the first time in her life. At Manticore she has no control, it's all Lydecker's, but she's used to that. Outside, though, she's always been the one calling the shots—always held the power over the marks. "How?"

He shrugs like it isn't something so top-secret that just knowing the word Manticore was enough to get him killed. "Source asked me for a favor awhile back," he says. "To find one of the kids that escaped back in '09. I did, and she looked just like you."

"We've never met," Max denies instantly.

"I did pick up on that," he says slyly. "I was confused at first but played along, and then I remembered something else my source said, about how sometimes these kids were 'twinned.'"

"Good memory," Max snaps.

Logan gives another sly grin. "Thanks," he says, despite her obvious lack of sincerity. "So the question is, Max, what is it you're really after? I'm guessing you're not really afraid the Steelheads are coming to kill you."

"It's a cruel world," Max says, grinning sweetly, trying to keep from getting off balance again. "I'm just trying to stay alive, get a paycheck—just like everyone else."

"See, I don't believe that, either," Logan says and gets to his feet. He grabs his jacket and looks down at her for a moment. "I'll probably be here tomorrow night," he says. "Maybe then you'll feel like talking."

She lets him leave, realizing she can only damage her cover further by following him now and pulls out her cell phone.

An emotionless voice snaps at her before she can speak. "How is it proceeding?"

"He knows who I really am," she says without preamble.

"How the hell did that happen, 452?" Lydecker snaps, sounding honestly anxious. A couple of years ago, she might have wasted time wondering if he was actually worried about her.

"He's smart," she snaps defensively. "Apparently he's met my clone and he figured it out pretty quick. If I'd lied, this would be over before it starts. This might work in our favor, anyway. If he thinks I want his help, if he thinks I escaped, maybe he'll start to trust me."

"Then you want to continue with the mission?" he asks.

"The method's changed," she says, "that's all. I can still pull this off."

"Fine, I don't care how you do it—just find Eyes Only," Lydecker snaps, "and then kill them both."


	2. Deals and Betrayals

Author's Notes: Thanks to everyone that reviewed! I'm still really new to Dark Angel so the support is much appreciated. So far the story is moving along fairly quickly, and by this point I mostly have it planned to the end. It might end up being shorter than I planned, but at least it looks like it might be finished sooner, as well.

xxxxx

Asha is sitting leaning against his door when he finally makes it home, and he can feel the worry radiating from her even before he steps off the elevator. "Hi," he says, pulling out his key to unlock the door as she climbs to his feet.

"Hey," she says, giving a soft smile. "I was a little worried, thought I'd drop by."

He watches her for a moment before opening the door. "I can take care of myself, you know" he says wryly. She follows him in without comment.

"I didn't trust that woman is all. What did she want, anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Logan tells her honestly. "She's from Manticore."

"Manticore?" Asha snaps. "What, like Alec?"

Logan nods contemplatively. "I wonder what she's after," he says quietly, mostly to himself.

"I've told you before," Asha says, "don't mess with this, Logan, it's too big—even for Eyes Only to handle."

"Manticore has to be stopped," Logan says, as though she hasn't spoken, "the information Alec has given me over the last year is disturbing to say the least, don't tell me you don't think so too. I owe Alec, anyway, after all the cases he's run for me."

"Yeah, well, I'd rather you didn't trust him, either," Asha says. "He's obviously out for himself—it's not like he's ever cared enough to ask you to take down Manticore, anyway."

Logan grins a little. "If he hadn't helped me with the Sonrisa case," he says, "I would probably be dead."

"And if you hadn't paid him a King's ransom, he wouldn't have helped," Asha snaps back.

Logan shrugs philosophically. "It's a broken world; we're all just trying to get by."

"You could get by fine if that's what you were after," Asha says, with exasperated fondness. "You just seem to be running in the opposite direction of everyone else."

"I've been telling him that since I met him," a new voice says wryly, and Asha and Logan spin towards the living room to see Alec falling to lie back on the couch. "Saved the world yet, Logan?"

Logan crosses his arms, and tries to hide his amusement. "Learned to use the doorbell yet, Alec?"

He grins over at them carelessly. "We need to talk," he says simply. "I saw your little dinner companion tonight, and since you hid Sam and her family away in San Francisco just a couple weeks ago, I'm guessing it wasn't her."

"No," Logan agrees. "She says her name is Max."

Alec raises his eyebrows a little. "Max," he says. "Right. Sam's clone. This is bad."

"Why?" Logan asks.

"Because she was probably sent here to kill you," Alec says, rolling his eyes as he often did at Logan's naivety.

"If she was sent here to kill me, wouldn't I be dead?" Logan asks wryly and Alec pauses, thinking that over.

"You have a point," he says, "but still, maybe she's supposed to get something out of you first. You didn't tell her anything, did you?"

Logan sighs. "Nothing she didn't already know," he says. "And don't worry, I didn't mention you."

Alec shot him a brilliant grin. "Thanks," he says. "You're still going to get yourself killed, though, if you're not careful."

"Maybe you could do something to help," Asha snaps, moving to stand beside Logan.

Alec's eyes strayed to her. "I'm not looking for any trouble," he says, and she rolls her eyes, because that's pretty much his motto and she's sick of it. He turns back to Logan. "I just came to tell you to watch your back, Logan. Hell, if we were smart, we'd both get the hell out of town right now."

"I'm going to meet her tomorrow," Logan says, because as Asha and Alec both know well, he's extremely smart book-wise, but extremely careless street-wise.

"You're a lunatic," Asha snaps, but really isn't surprised. "Did you hear a word Alec just said? If he came all the way down here with his precious time to give you a warning, then you've got to be in real trouble this time, Logan. For once in your life, just walk away."

"I can't," Logan says softly. "You're probably right, I probably should, but I can't."

Asha is again not all that surprised, but she's exasperated and worried and she places a hand on his arm with a sigh. "Just…at least take Peter."

Logan's lips twitched upwards. "I'll think about it." He doesn't say it, but he knows Max could down Peter in five seconds flat, and all things considered, he'd rather take his chances alone.

Asha gives a half-hearted wave goodbye and walks out, but Alec makes no move to leave. He waits until he hears the door shut before getting to his feet. "They don't know yet," he says.

"Know what?" Logan asks.

"That you're Eyes Only," Alec says, shooting him a cheeky grin.

Alec had broken into his apartment 13 months ago, interrupting him right in the middle of an Eyes Only broadcast and hasn't let him forget it since. Alec isn't exactly the type of guy he would normally have taken into his confidence, even Asha didn't know who he really was, but so far, Alec only really betrayed him that once.

"No thanks to you," Logan says, with just a little bitterness. "You did try to sell me to them to get them to stop looking for you, you know, and that's probably the only reason they know enough to send someone after me now."

"Hey," Alec snaps defensively. "It's not my fault you're careless—trusting a reprobate like me. And even ignoring the fact that I hadn't intended to get caught and forced to make a deal with the devil, I changed my mind last minute, anyway, didn't I?"

Logan gives him a lop-sided grin. "You were caught because you were cage-fighting under the alias Manta Cora and winning every round in under twelve seconds, and you didn't change your mind, they double-crossed you," he says wryly. "From what I remember, you said you barely escaped Lydecker's clutches—not to mention I got shot."

"Stop complaining," Alec says dismissively. "It was only a flesh wound, and I killed everyone that saw you. No one knows you're Eyes Only, so chill."

Logan sighs, having already forgiven Alec months ago and unwilling to get into it again. "If Max is working for Manticore," he says, "then wouldn't we benefit from knowing how much she knows?"

"You think you'll get anything out of her?" Alec asks disbelievingly. "Logan, buddy, it's gonna be the other way around."

Logan glances over at him, not disagreeing. "I'll be careful, but I still think I need to meet with her."

Alec holds his hands out in mock surrender. "Fine, whatever, go play with fire. Just be careful. I'm not always going to be around to save your sorry ass, you know." Alec gives him a sloppy salute as a goodbye and heads back down the hall to Logan's bedroom. Logan doesn't bother to wonder how he's going to get out.

xxxxx

He's lighting a candle when he hears footsteps behind him. "Expecting company? Don't tell me you've already forgotten our date."

Logan smiles and lights the other candle. "I haven't," he says. "You're right on time." He looks up and Max is standing with her back to his window, all in black, looking half-amused and half-wary.

"You knew I wasn't going to waste time waiting around at Crash," she says, and crosses her arms.

"You didn't strike me as particularly patient," Logan admits. "I figured you would show up here eventually."

Max purses her lips again, not liking the way he seems to be keeping one step ahead of her. "I just wanted to see how someone fighting for the greater good lived. Nice place, Logan, really—you must relate so well to the struggling masses."

Logan let that slide, having long ago come to terms with the guilt he felt for being born well-off. "My friends think you're here to kill me," he says, conversationally, and then glances up at her, looking entirely unconcerned. "Do you like pasta, Max?"

"I love pasta," she tells him levelly. She's trying not to let her surprise at his first statement show, which isn't that hard—she's getting used to being surprised by him.

He grins at her and turns around to head towards the kitchen. "Good," he says. "It should be finished soon. Make yourself at home, Max."

She keeps her eyes on him but takes a seat, slouching down again, her arms staying crossed. "Do you always make dinner for people that break into your apartment?" she asks him.

He gives a sly little grin and doesn't look up to meet her eyes. "You'd be surprised," he says, and leaves it at that.

Max watches him, standing there and casually stirring the sauce with a domesticity about him she wouldn't have expected considering what she knows, and feels suddenly out of place. "Tell me about Eyes Only," she says.

Logan grins again. "I don't know anything about him, really. He's a very private person." He looks up. "Besides, I thought it was your turn to talk tonight, wasn't that the deal?"

"I didn't make any deals," Max says, and it's true enough.

"Well then," Logan says, pulling two plates from a cupboard, "let's make one, shall we?" He starts placing the pasta on the plates. "You level with me, or the dinner party is over. How's that sound?"

He walks over and sets the plate in front of her. She wonders idly if it's poisoned, but decides that doesn't seem Logan's style, if he's ever even killed anyone at all. "Thanks," she says dryly.

He sits down across from her, but neither of them is actually in the mood to eat.

She spent all last night awake and wondering what to say to him to get him to believe in her, what story he might buy, and she came up with a hundred different ones. She just couldn't convince herself that any of them would work, she's never had to try and deceive someone who knew so many of her secrets before.

"This is the part where you tell me the truth, Max," Logan tells her when the silence stretches.

The truth, she thinks, and grins. The truth might actually work. "Okay," she says. "I was sent here to find out the identity of Eyes Only, and then kill you both." She takes great pleasure in the fact his eyes widen marginally, because this is the first time she's thrown him off balance instead of the other way around.

If Lydecker were here, he'd probably put her in solitary for a month for telling him this much, but she has a feeling playing games with Logan Cale won't get her anywhere and she's never not finished a job.

"Well, that's, ah…" Logan trails off, and absent-mindedly uncorks a bottle of wine. "That's truthful."

"I just want to make sure we're on the same page," Max says. "I'm tired of playing games."

Logan gets the wine open but then pushes it away without pouring it and gets anxiously to his feet. "Why would you tell me that?" he asks abruptly.

Max raises an eyebrow. "You asked me too," she reminds him.

"That's hardly the point," Logan snaps. "Why did you tell me?"

Max shrugs a little. "Maybe I like you," she says.

"I find that hard to believe," he says, and bites his lip. He turns around, running a hand through his hair, and she wonders if its bravery or brashness that lets him turn his back on her.

She gets to her feet and walks up behind him. "Now you know where I stand," she says. "Where are you?"

"Backed in the corner?" he says, and then laughs softly—the sound is filled more with mild hysteria than amusement.

She touches his arm and he turns around. She tilts her face upwards, just inches from his. "I don't want to hurt anyone," she tells him, watching him with what she hopes looks like sincerity. "And no one has to get hurt, not if I have cooperation. If you tell me who Eyes Only is, I could protect you." Max is a little surprised when she realizes it isn't an empty offer. She really would betray Lydecker's orders and let him live.

She doesn't know why she's willing to risk so much for someone she hardly knows, and she doesn't want to think about it too much—she just tells herself it's because he's not the big fish anyway, and she doubts anyone would notice if he slips through the cracks.

He leans down, a little closer than she's comfortable with. "If I give you Eyes Only," he whispers. "I'm dead anyway." She can feel his breath on her neck as he moves his mouth closer to her ear. "Are you going to kill me now, Max?" he asks.

As she pulls away from him, Max wonders if she even could.

She leaves without answering his question. She doesn't know the answer, anyway, and there is little point in staying. He isn't going to give up Eyes Only willingly, that much was obvious, and she's already shown him all of her cards—but if she's going to get Logan out of this alive she needs to give Lydecker something to distract him. Eyes Only is the only thing that will be good enough.

She's going to have to find him and kill him—it's the only chance Logan has.


	3. Identity Crisis

Author's Notes: This part is a bit short, but I feel bad for taking awhile to update and wanted to get it posted. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, I hope I don't disappoint.

xxxxx

"Would you stop packing my things?" Logan asks, exasperated, as he looks over at Asha from his computer.

She stops long enough to glare at him. "You need to get out of here now, Logan. She knows where you live."

"I can't just up and leave," Logan says patiently. "Besides, I have people depending on me…"

"A lot of good you'll do them dead," Asha says irritably, before walking over to him. "Eyes Only will take care of it, anyway. Worry about yourself for once, Logan."

Logan bites his lip and turns away from her. "I'm not leaving," he says determinedly. "I can't."

"Fine," Asha snaps. "I swear, Logan, I don't think you'll be satisfied until you get yourself killed. I'll just never understand this need you seem to have to martyr yourself."

"Asha," Logan says tiredly, but she's not listening, she's heading towards the door.

"Call me when this is over," she snaps, and she doesn't have to turn around for him to know she's close to crying. "If you're still alive."

The door slams shut harshly, just as footsteps start from the other direction. Logan rolls his eyes, already knowing who it is, even before he speaks. "What's with her?" Alec asks.

Logan winces a little, too tired to give Alec a bad time for showing up uninvited yet again. "Max told me she was sent to kill me," he says. "Asha wants me to leave."

Alec was somewhat surprised by that, because it certainly wasn't standard procedure to tell your mark you're going to kill them, but he doesn't spend too long thinking about it. "You own this place, right?" he says casually. "Mind if I crash here once you're gone?" Logan isn't sure if he means once he's left or town, or once he was dead, and he doesn't ask for clarification.

"No," he snaps. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Suit yourself," Alec says, "but you don't have any obligation to Eyes Only, you know. You started it and you can stop anytime you want."

"Eyes Only is an obligation," Logan protests. "Especially considering I got everyone into this."

"Fine," Alec says with exasperation, "but she's right, you know, you're only going to get yourself killed."

Logan spun in his chair to glare at him. "How long have you been here?"

Alec smiles widely and shrugs. "Maybe I'm always here. You have good food."

Logan rolls his eyes again and gets up from his chair, but Alec does have a unique viewpoint in all this, and eventually he turns back to look at him. "What do you think I should do?" he asks.

Alec sighs. "I told you, get the hell out of here, before they find out who you are—because if they learn you're not just some informant, they'll chase you. As it is, they might let you slide and look for another lead."

Logan doesn't respond and now it's Alec rolling his eyes and turning away. "Not that you'd ever do _that_," he says. "And you probably wouldn't like door number two, which is to, say, give Max another informant to play with." Alec doesn't have to turn around to feel Logan's glare at that particular suggestion. "So, basically, you're screwed. Just try not to look her in the eye too much. They're a dead giveaway. X-5's have great memory storage, and if she thinks to compare you with Eyes Only…"

Logan sighs. "Well, I'll just have to hope Max doesn't look too closely," he says. "She may be reluctant to kill me, but that's only because she thinks I don't matter in the big scheme of things, and she'd rather have him."

"See, right there—'him,'" Alec says. "Sometimes, Logan, I think you've got yourself fooled into believing Eyes Only is someone else too."

Logan sighs again, because sometimes he thinks that too.

"No one would hold it against you if you stopped," Alec says. "You've already done more than anyone I've known. I think you've got enough brownie points by now that you can try living your own life for a change."

Logan shakes his head and turns away. "This _is_ my life," he says. It's what no one understands. If he leaves they really will have killed Eyes Only, and as Alec pointed out, Eyes Only wasn't someone else, it was him—pure and simple.

xxxxx

Max is pacing the floor of her motel room when she hears the sound of a window slipping quietly shut. No one only human could have heard it but she doesn't miss it, and she turns around, crouching into a fighting stance. It's Zack that appears in the doorway, and she rolls her eyes and gets back to her feet. "What are you doing here?" she snaps. "I'm in the middle of a case."

"Lydecker filled me in," Zack says with a nod. "We have a problem."

"What's happened?" Max asks with a frown.

"We believe Eyes Only may be in contact with an X-5, especially considering what you said about Mr. Cale having been in contact with your clone. Lydecker is worried that Eyes Only might learn the location of Manticore, reveal it on one of his hacks. If he does, they'll destroy Manticore, Max, they'll kill us all."

Max rolls her eyes with a sneer. "Please. We're Lydecker's pathetic little life, he wouldn't do it."

"Maybe not," Zack snaps, "but Renfro would. She's got a hand in everything these days, and she values secrecy over everything. Eyes Only needs to be stopped now, before things get out of hand."

Max winces. "So, what? You want to bring Logan in? Torture won't get you anywhere. He won't break, I can tell."

Zack looks at her, disbelieving. "Logan?" he snaps. "Tell me you're not getting attached."

"I—" Max starts to speak, but all the denials die on her lips, because Zack can read her better than anyone and he must already know.

"Max, you're smarter than this," Zack snaps. "He's working with the enemy."

"Did you ever think maybe it was us working for the enemy?" Max snaps. "I'm tired of doing Lydecker's dirty work."

"He'd have you killed if he heard you talking like that," Zack says. "You have to focus on the mission, Max, it's the only thing that matters."

"Yeah?" Max says, smiling tightly. "And how sad is that?"

"We have to catch Eyes Only," Zack hisses.

Max tenses but nods. "Agreed, but Logan doesn't have to pay the price for getting caught up in this, Zack. He's only trying to help people and I don't think I can kill him for that, not even for Lydecker—especially not for him."

Zack sighs and drops to sit on the bed. "You're getting far too many ideas lately, Max."

"Imagine that," she snaps.

He looks up to glare at her. "But I might just be able to help you get away with this one."

Instantly relieved at the support, however reluctantly given, Max relaxes. "How?"

Zack pulled out a small vial, holding two white tablets. "A couple of months ago, Lydecker tracked down 494."

"I remember hearing about that," Max says. "He escaped again."

Zack nods. "But not right away. He made a deal first, promised to give Lydecker Eyes Only."

Max's eyes widen. "He's the one Lydecker believes is working as an informant for Eyes Only?"

Zack nods again, and tosses her the vial. She catches it without taking her eyes off of him. "He was going to cooperate at first. Sent Eyes Only to a bogus meeting. Our guys almost had him, Max, they even shot him, but 494 managed to get away from Lydecker and showed up to help Eyes Only get away. He killed everyone at the scene, but, clean-up managed to find a blood sample. From Eyes Only."

Max looks down at the vial suspiciously. "So?"

"It's a virus, specifically targeted to his DNA. We need you to infect Cale." When Zack saw Max about to protest he shook his head. "It won't hurt him. It will only infect Eyes Only, we just need Cale to be our carrier. He's the only informant we've tracked down that we believe actually has contact with Eyes Only."

"And if he doesn't?" Max says.

Zack shrugs. "We'll have to bring him in, find out what he knows. You know procedure, Max, but Lydecker is willing to wait it out for awhile, see what happens. It will give your little boyfriend a stay of execution if nothing else."

Max glares at him and pulls him to his feet, before marching him to the door and shoving him out. "Look, just be careful, Max," Zack warns, before she slams the door.

Max stares at the door for a moment, listens to the footsteps carry her brother away and twists the vial around her fingers. The pills snap against the glass as she turns it around, and she hears the sound clearly, hiding behind the beating of her heart. She finally starts moving, turning to grab her coat.

She never did have a glass of wine with Logan, she thinks as she puts the vial in her pocket. And she's in the mood for it now.


	4. Fallible

Author's Note: This is kind of a short part, but I feel bad for taking so long to update. Sometimes, I think I have way too many fandoms. 

-----

He's at his computer when she slips down the rope and lands in his living room. She can hear the clicking of the keys as he types, and the only light in the apartment comes from the screen. She turns around and walks soundlessly into the kitchen. She grabs two glasses from the cupboard and pulls a bottle of wine from the fridge.

She drops the tablets into one of the glasses, and then pours the wine in. "Are you planning on joining me?" she calls.

Logan appears at the edge of the kitchen, smiling wryly. "Help yourself," he says.

She grins at him before turning away. "I think we need to talk, make up a game plan or something. I don't want you to get hurt, Logan."

Logan takes the glass she hands him, and twirls it between his fingers, not meeting her eyes. "I can't give you want you want," he tells her.

You can, she thinks. Just drink.

She comes to stand beside him, watching carefully as he raises the glass. He tilts his head back, drinking it all in one shot. She feels sick as she watches, but tells herself it won't hurt him. Only Eyes Only, that's all.

"You don't have to," she whispers. "You don't have to do anything at all, but I will see him dead." She reaches out but pulls back before she can touch him. "You shouldn't have to die for his cause."

"It's my cause," he says, but she doesn't get it, and it's too late anyway.

She sets her glass off to the side, without drinking it, and turns away again. Her heart is beating faster than it's supposed to, and she doesn't know what's wrong. It's not a betrayal, really, she's just doing her job and Logan won't be hurt.

She hears him sigh but still doesn't face him. "God," he whispers. "Is it hot in here?"

All he has to do is touch Eyes Only and it's over, all of it. Manticore will be safe, Logan will be safe, the hacks will stop. She'll move on, find another mission, and forget all about this. "Do you ever meet with Eyes Only personally?" she asks.

"Do I--?"

He sounds out of breath and Max spins around in concern. He's leaning back against the counter, and a moment later the wine glass slips from his fingers, crashing to pieces on the white tile floor.

Max's eyes dilate as she focuses in on him, noticing the symptoms with a heavy heart. She wonders for a moment if the virus was defective, if it infected whoever it came into contact with and not only the DNA it had been specified for, but looking at his eyes, she knows better. Those eyes are familiar and she doesn't know how she missed it before.

"You bastard," she whispers, but her voice is shaking and scared, not angry at all. "You're Eyes Only."

His eyes focus on her and he stumbles, slipping to the ground. He leans back against the counter, hands on the floor holding himself up and then he looks up. "What did you give me?"

"Nothing," she says. "It was for Eyes Only, not for you."

He laughs, and she watches in morbid fascination as all of the color bleeds from his skin. She doesn't know how long it takes for the virus to kill, she doesn't even know if it has a cure. She drops to her knees beside him, horror struck and she can hear Lydecker in the back of her mind, whispering that it's a job well done.

"I didn't know," she says, tears in her eyes. "Logan, I swear I didn't know."

He bites his lip and shuts his eyes, starting to shake. "Well," he says weakly. "It is a secret identity, so that's kind of the point."

"You can't die," she says, blinking the tears away and letting determination take its place. "We'll take you to Manticore, they'll cure you, and if you tell them what they want to know I'm sure you could strike a deal--"

Logan shook his head. "I'm better off dying here, and I don't plan to make any deals."

Max felt as though everything she had ever stood for was slipping away, becoming blurred, and she can't remember why she ever listened to Lydecker, how she let herself become what she was--she's been killing people like Logan all her life, so how is it that it's only hitting her now?

"Then I'll go to Manticore," she says roughly. "I'll get you a cure." If there was one, that was, but Manticore usually accounts for everything, so she's thinking there is.

"Don't," Logan tells her weakly, and she's terrified he might be right. "Just get away, Max, and promise me you'll stop working for them, you could help people . . ."

"Help people?" Max asks disbelievingly. "Would you believe I was trying to help you? I can't help people, I only kill them."

Logan is slipping away, she can tell, but she's not going to let him die. There's only one person she wants to help. "Okay," she says, getting to her feet. "I promise, I'll stop working for them, Logan, I promise you--I'm going to help you."

"There is no cure."

Max looks up in shock, and sees Zack in shadow, standing beside the couch.

"It was meant to be a rather final arrangement."

"Did you know--" she starts, and her voice is as filled with as much anger as she's ever had.

Zack took a few more steps, coming into the light, and she could see him shaking his head. "No, but this is simpler, don't you think?"

She loves her brother, and in other circumstances would exchange her life for his without a thought, but at the moment she thinks she could kill him and not regret it. It isn't fair, she knows, because two days ago that could have been her standing there, wearing a mocking grin as she watched someone die.

Logan is unconscious, but he's still breathing. "No," she says. "There's nothing simple about this. There has to be something we can do."

"We?" Zack laughs. "This is your problem, Max, I'm glad to be finished with this whole thing. Eyes Only is a complication we don't need."

"Haven't you ever had second thoughts about any of this?" Max pleads. "Haven't you ever once thought that maybe what we do is wrong?"

Zack stares down at her, unmoved. "Not that I recall," he tells her carelessly. "We should leave, Max. This building has good security, and we hardly need to be caught standing over a dead body."

"He's not dead yet," Max snaps.

Zack opens his mouth to respond but there's a crash and he pauses, frozen, before his eyes roll up in his head and he drops to the floor. Max watches in disbelief as a young man is revealed behind him, holding a bloody statue of a cat in his hands. "Good for you he's not," the man says, dropping the statue and pulling out a gun to aim in her direction, "as I've become rather fond of the do-gooder."

Ben is her first thought, but this man's eyes are saner, and Ben's been dead for years--put down by Manticore when it was found he couldn't be controlled. This was 494, then, also known as Alec. Short for Smart Alec, if she's remembering right, and lovingly named by none other than her own twin.

"What did you give him?" he demands, and she shakes her head, not sure.

"I don't know. It was created specifically for Eyes Only, Zack says there no cure." She watches Alec warily, the gun still pointed unfailingly at her heart. She almost wishes he would just shoot her, perhaps the world would be better off.

"When was the last time you had your immunity shots updated?" Alec asks her.

"A couple weeks ago, why?" Max turns away from Alec when Logan moans, falling sideways to curl on the floor.

"Good," Alec says. "Are you serious about wanting to save him?"

Max nods, grabbing Logan's hand. Her life is in it, she realizes, but doesn't know why. She has the oddest feeling that Logan was her second chance at living, to make up for that time she hadn't escaped, and foolishly she had let rules and orders get in the way. She may have lost it forever.

"Don't go anywhere," Alec says, and disappears. He returns five minutes later, and though he's not out of breath he's gone far, she can tell. He kneels beside her and grabs her arm, jamming a needle in without hesitation. She winces, but is more curious than scared.

"What are you doing?" she asks.

"You're going to give him a transfusion," Alec tells her, lifting Logan's arm to stick the needle in, more gently for him, she notices. "It's worked once before, and you'd better hope it works again--if not, I may have to just kill you."

She glanced down at the tubing, watching the blood slip to fill it and move swiftly down, heading towards Logan's vein. If he dies, she thinks, she might just welcome Alec's retribution--deserving as she was.


	5. The Hack

Author's Note: This isn't much of an ending, but it leads into the episode Designate This, so I let that episode fill in a lot of the blanks instead of writing them in.

Alec paces back and forth behind her, and she can hear the pistol tapping an odd tune off his thigh. "Is he getting better?" he snaps.

Max looks back at Logan, and bites her lip. "His color is coming back."

"We can't wait any longer," Alec says, falling down beside her. "Those ropes aren't going to hold your buddy over there long and they'll be coming for us."

Max glances over at Zack. She could see him stirring already. "They'll find you," she says. "Wherever you go."

"Hey, cupcake," Alec snaps. "I've been running from them for ten years. I think I've got it covered."

Max glares at him. "You shouldn't have to," she says.

"Lovely sentiment, Mary Poppins," he says, grinning falsely. "But this here's what we like to call the real world."

Max's eyes focused on the office that held Logan's computers. "I have an idea," she says.

"Why does that not instill me with confidence?" Alec asks, leaning over Logan, and removing the needles from his arm. He placed his hand on his forehead. "Fever's broken. I might let you live after all, Maxie."

He glanced over to her, but she was gone. "Hey," he shouts, catching sight of her just as she disappears into Logan's office. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Alec gets to his feet, about to go after her, when he sees Zack open his eyes. He doesn't think leaving an unconscious Logan with an X-5 that wants to kill him is a very good idea, so he adjusts his grip on his gun and walks over to him. "I suggest you behave. You don't want to piss me off more."

Zack glares at him, a trickle of blood running down his neck. "They'll just send more. They'll take you back and re-educate you and they'll kill that pathetic--"

Alec aims the gun at him. "Now what did I just say? I said you _don't_ want to piss me off."

The TV on the kitchen counter flickered, and goes to static, before it switches to a familiar bulletin. Alec reaches over and turned up the volume.

"--adjust your set. This is a Streaming Freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in this city."

Alec glances at the unconscious Logan, and then back to his office where Max disappeared. "What is she up to?"

Zack is a little pale. "She wouldn't," he says.

Alec spares him a vaguely disgusted glance. "Wouldn't what?"

"Your location has been revealed. Your secret is out. And now Manticore will be held accountable for its crimes. Maticore's facility is located an hour southwest of Seattle."

"No," Zack shouts. "She..."

Alec breaks out into a reluctant grin. "Hey, that might just work."

"It's not going to work, you idiot," Zack snaps. "You have no idea what she's done."

"I know what I've done," Max says, joining them again. "I've ended this."

"You just killed them all," Zack snaps coldly. "They aren't going to let this get out. They're going to burn the whole place to the ground. I warned you--."

Max glances at Alec, before looking back at Zack. "We're important to them, I'm not sure--"

"They'll just start again someplace else," Zack says. "You've just turned us all into liabilities instead of assets."

Alec let out a breath. "I hate to say it," he says, "but I think he's probably telling the truth."

Max's eyes went steely. "Then we'll stop them," she says.

Alec laughs. "Right. Yeah. Good idea. I'll get right on that."

Max glares at him. "We can get them out," she says. "This will be over. Isn't this what you want?"

"What I want?" Alec snaps. "Not everyone in that place is as charming as I am, Maxie," Alec said. "They've got a bunch of freaks locked in the basement, and in case you've forgotten, they're all trained _killers_, and some of them _like_ it."

"They just don't know anything else," Max tells him, wincing slightly. "They'll learn."

"Untie me," Zack says again. "I'll help you, Max."

Max glares at him. "Because you've been such a help so far?"

"They're going to want me dead now like the rest of you," Zack says. "I'm not happy about it, but there's no fixing it now. We need to get as many of them out of there as we can. We're running out of time as it is. Untie me."

Max drops down and starts pulling at the ropes. Alec tightens his grip on his gun. "I don't trust him," he says.

"Then don't trust him," she snaps. "You're staying here. Watch after Logan, in case anyone else is sent after him. They're not going to be happy he just exposed them."

"He didn't," Alec says coldly.

Max glances at him, as Zack shakes off the ropes and gets to his feet. "They don't know that. Just keep him safe."

"Yeah, thanks for the advice," Alec says. "Like that isn't already my full-time job."

Max and Zack disappear down the hall to the elevator, and Alec drops down onto the floor beside Logan, holding his gun loosely with both hands. Logan stirs a little, but he still looks out of it, and Alec hopes the transfusion is enough to save him.

He would hate to miss out on all the free food he's come accustomed to.

And yeah, he'd miss the do-gooder, too. At least a little.

xxxxx

Epilogue

Logan is on the couch, head resting in his hands, when she finally makes it back to the penthouse. Max leans against the wall, soot covering the right side of her face, and most of her clothes. "You're looking better," she says.

Alec is leaning against the glass window at the back of the room, and his eyes narrow in her direction. She ignores him.

"That was a bold move," Logan says, lifting his head and looking at his hands. "I've been trying to take down Manticore for nearly a year. You did it in a day."

"I'm worried it's not over yet," she says softly. "Zack and I got most of them out, but I'm not sure they're better off. We'll all be hunted now."

"If they're smart," Alec says, "and they should be, they'll keep their heads down."

Max glances up at him. "Could I have a moment alone with Logan?"

He flashes her a blinding grin. "No," he says.

Logan sighs, and looks over at him. "It's okay, Alec. I'll be fine."

"Whatever," Alec says, pushing off the glass. "Just scream if she tries to kill you again."

"Alec," Logan says warningly, but Alec just throws them both a cheery wave and disappears somewhere into the apartment. Logan looks back over at Max. "Alec told me you saved me."

"Wow," Max says. "And I thought he didn't like me."

Logan gives her a crooked grin. "Well, he didn't phrase it quite like that."

Max snorts and steps a little closer. "I really do like you," she says. "I didn't--"

"I know," Logan says. "You did the right thing in the end. That's what matters."

"That's just it," Max says. "I've made a mess of things."

"The world is a mess," Logan says. "If you want, you can help me try and put it back together."

Max grins. "Is that a job offer?" she asks softly. "I heard you pay well."

"You interested?" Logan asks, smiling back up at her.

Max's own smile grows, and she wonders if she's getting her second chance after all. Her second chance at a life, at making things right--a second chance with Logan. "Very," she says, and grins. "When do I start?"

_The End. Finally._


End file.
